Tibetan folk artist Sunnuoqilin sees many benefits from his interactions with primary school students. His art lessons provide them with new ways to make a living.

"In a remote, mountainous area like Tangdui, agriculture is the hard means of living," said the 55-year-old master of the Tibetan-style black pottery.

About 80 percent of the local households in Tangdui, in Shangri La County of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture produce hand-made black pottery works and sell them to tourists, both domestic and international.

In a project spearheaded by experts from the Centre of Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge in Yunnan, Sunnuoqilin has invited groups of students from the Tangdui Township Primary School to his pottery studio in order to teach them pottery-making skills.

"I believe many of the primary students who are interested in this folk art and can have a good command of the skills may be able to earn their living as qualified pottery makers if, in the future, they fail in college entrance exams," he said.

Wu Yuqi, a former carpenter and headmaster of a vocational school in Jianchuan County, Dali Bai Ethnic Autonomous Prefecture in southern Yunnan Province, agrees with the Tibetan master "Students in my school, armed with both knowledge and skills they have learned both from teachers and folk craftsmen, will have more job opportunities than those less prepared," said Wu.

Wu's school offers not only diversified training courses in folk arts and crafts including carpentry and pottery making but also creates internships for students in arts and crafts companies where students can work closely with folk artists and learn their trade.

(China Daily December 5, 2006)